Gaming studio Lobah in Saudi Arabia secures $12 million in funding
In the heart of Riyadh, during the Leap 2025 event, Saudi Arabia's gaming industry took a significant step forward with the announcement of Lobah, a new gaming studio. This studio is the result of a merger between a company with two decades of experience in mobile social gaming across the Middle East and MAU Games, a Saudi gaming studio with over 14 years of expertise.
Lobah, led by co-founder Eisa Atawi, who established MAU Games more than a decade ago, is set to make waves in the gaming world. The studio is developing a diverse range of titles, including the trivia game Kingdom of Letters, inspired by the 90s TV show حروف, and Jackaroo, a strategy board game involving marbles and cards.
The future game release strategy for Lobah is focused on expanding its presence primarily in the mobile gaming market. Titles such as Jackroo Strike and GameTok™ are already in the works and will be available on Google Play and the Apple App Store, respectively.
To accelerate production and marketing efforts, Lobah secured a significant funding round of $12 million from the Social Development Bank (SDB). This investment will likely fuel development and publishing efforts, helping Lobah to grow its portfolio and reach wider audiences both within Saudi Arabia and globally.
This funding is part of SDB's expanded support for the gaming and esports sector, aligning with Saudi Arabia’s National Gaming and Esports Strategy and Vision 2030, which aims to establish the Kingdom as a global gaming hub.
Lobah's public social media presence promotes a message of global outreach, reflecting ambitions to export Saudi-developed games internationally. In line with this, the studio recently launched Lobah Play, a platform for game developers to publish, network, and monetize their games. Habhab, a casual fruit-merge game, is already available on Lobah Play, and all of Lobah's future games will only be available through this platform.
As Lobah embarks on this exciting journey, it's clear that the future of Saudi Arabia's gaming industry is bright, with the studio poised to make a significant impact on the global gaming landscape.
- With the announcement of Lobah, Saudi Arabia's new gaming studio, technology is set to play a crucial role in expanding the global reach of Saudi-developed games.
- The funding secured by Lobah from the Social Development Bank, an investment in technology, will likely fuel development and publishing efforts, helping the studio to grow its portfolio and reach wider audiences.
